It’s wilful ignorance to think that people who lived before were different in any way from us. As if racial or gender equality were novel concepts.
Everyone who’s experienced adolescence knows that their beliefs are a choice: they can choose or not to accept what they’ve been taught at school or home (or online…). A six yo can’t be blamed for parroting a parent but a 26 yo must own their beliefs. A person’s ethics are immaterial to what the majority thinks at the time.
I study historical feminist women writers and some had male allies (which is how many of them managed to have their works survive), more than I originally expected. It’s always possible to do the right thing. And it’s always wrong to harm others. Acknowledging those wrongs is a commitment to be better; giving them a pass continues the wrong.
As always this is an interesting, perceptive read that inspires personal thought and action. I don’t often comment not because I am not interested by your work, which I read regularly, but for my own mental health. I have decided to stay off public forums
Oh, I’m so glad you wrote this! I knew about the despicable caning but had no idea how far Sumner’s anti racism went. What an admirable man! I’m not sure we’ve progressed very far in 150 years.
I've studied this in the past, probably more than once, it's a disturbing snapshot of our country's leaders at the time. Certainly of the South. What I've found strange every time is that the disconnect between the outrage shown by abolitionists (or even the perhaps not abolitionist but "correctly" behaved North) and the lack of outrage or encouragement of further violence from the South is any discussion of how this reflects the lived realities of both groups of men. In the more densely populated Northern cities I'm sure there were bar fights and things of that nature but I don't think it was socially acceptable to frequently engage in explosive violent outbursts with your peers or family. Whereas perhaps the Southern legislators had employees that performed the work of "discipline" for them on their enslaved laborers, but is there really a chance any of them weren't far more intimate with extreme physical violence based on the slightest provocation already? It's hard to imagine a successful Southern politician coming from a family with zero connection to slavery. Even in the North there were surely more than superficial connections amongst the wealthy no matter their personal feelings about the immorality of slavery.
I'm less impressed by how magnanimous and anti-racist Sumner was since for all his belief in shared humanity he couldn't quite manage to include the half of the population to which his mother belonged.
I do think that as a nation we are going to have to acknowledge and struggle with the incredible level of interpersonal violence committed by Americans on those deemed lesser Americans. Because we have mostly refused to do this in any meaningful way it has never truly ended. (You can't stop a problem if you deny it exists) Trump isn't the first to use this to his advantage at the expense of society and culture at large. It feels like we've lost much ground I thought had been settled permanently.
There are things from history that I missed as a high school drop out. I earned my GED through a unique program where I earned 24 college credits and was awarded my GED, so I never even had to take a test. I missed out on a lot of high school history.
It's nice to have actual names of examples of people who were anti racist.
It’s wilful ignorance to think that people who lived before were different in any way from us. As if racial or gender equality were novel concepts.
Everyone who’s experienced adolescence knows that their beliefs are a choice: they can choose or not to accept what they’ve been taught at school or home (or online…). A six yo can’t be blamed for parroting a parent but a 26 yo must own their beliefs. A person’s ethics are immaterial to what the majority thinks at the time.
I study historical feminist women writers and some had male allies (which is how many of them managed to have their works survive), more than I originally expected. It’s always possible to do the right thing. And it’s always wrong to harm others. Acknowledging those wrongs is a commitment to be better; giving them a pass continues the wrong.
You explain this much better than I've been able to when I've tried.
Thank you for this.
As always this is an interesting, perceptive read that inspires personal thought and action. I don’t often comment not because I am not interested by your work, which I read regularly, but for my own mental health. I have decided to stay off public forums
Oh, I’m so glad you wrote this! I knew about the despicable caning but had no idea how far Sumner’s anti racism went. What an admirable man! I’m not sure we’ve progressed very far in 150 years.
I've studied this in the past, probably more than once, it's a disturbing snapshot of our country's leaders at the time. Certainly of the South. What I've found strange every time is that the disconnect between the outrage shown by abolitionists (or even the perhaps not abolitionist but "correctly" behaved North) and the lack of outrage or encouragement of further violence from the South is any discussion of how this reflects the lived realities of both groups of men. In the more densely populated Northern cities I'm sure there were bar fights and things of that nature but I don't think it was socially acceptable to frequently engage in explosive violent outbursts with your peers or family. Whereas perhaps the Southern legislators had employees that performed the work of "discipline" for them on their enslaved laborers, but is there really a chance any of them weren't far more intimate with extreme physical violence based on the slightest provocation already? It's hard to imagine a successful Southern politician coming from a family with zero connection to slavery. Even in the North there were surely more than superficial connections amongst the wealthy no matter their personal feelings about the immorality of slavery.
I'm less impressed by how magnanimous and anti-racist Sumner was since for all his belief in shared humanity he couldn't quite manage to include the half of the population to which his mother belonged.
I do think that as a nation we are going to have to acknowledge and struggle with the incredible level of interpersonal violence committed by Americans on those deemed lesser Americans. Because we have mostly refused to do this in any meaningful way it has never truly ended. (You can't stop a problem if you deny it exists) Trump isn't the first to use this to his advantage at the expense of society and culture at large. It feels like we've lost much ground I thought had been settled permanently.
Thank you for this!
There are things from history that I missed as a high school drop out. I earned my GED through a unique program where I earned 24 college credits and was awarded my GED, so I never even had to take a test. I missed out on a lot of high school history.
It's nice to have actual names of examples of people who were anti racist.